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MURRIETA: Parent-teacher club former treasurer admits embezzlement

The former treasurer of the Cole Canyon Elementary School Parent Teachers Club in Murrieta pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges Wednesday, Feb. 17, in connection with embezzlement of $5,200 in funds from the group, according to court records.

Angela Coleen Sears, 47, was in Southwest Justice Center for a settlement conference when she changed her plea. Judge Mark A. Mandio reduced the charges from felony embezzlement and felony grand theft to misdemeanors, according to court records.

Sears was sentenced to three years’ probation and must complete 45 days in the Riverside County Sheriff's Department work-release program.

A June 2015 Murrieta Police Department search warrant affidavit stated that Sears was one of three authorized club members with access to the club’s bank account.

The club president in March 2015 discovered Sears conducted three suspicious transactions — she drew a cashier’s check for $2,500, made a $1,500 cash withdrawal and wrote a $1,200 check to herself, all the same day, according to the court document.

Sears went on a vacation to New York the next day and when she returned she refused to meet a club officer in person, claimed some of the withdrawals were to pay club bills and related that her husband “accidentally” deposited one of the checks she had written into their personal account.

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